The Doctor's visit
by 2910leiv
Summary: AU, Takes place between "Then came Janto..." and "A family for dummies". The Doctor is hurting after loosing Donna. He stops by Cardiff and run into Orion and his parents. One-shot.


**This takes place some time between "Then came Janto with a baby carriage" and "Family for dummies." It's AU. There is mention of Donna having her memories removed, but the reason for it is something other than canon = the earth wasn't towed away by the Daleks and earth wasn't invaded by them.**

The Doctor's visit

The Doctor leaned on the railing looking out over the swirling waters of Cardiff Bay. He held a paper cup of lukewarm tea in his hands, while his brown coat flapped around his legs. He was getting rather cold, seeing how it was in the middle of winter and he only wore his favourite brown pinstripe suit underneath. He hated winters. Summers were more his thing. Just like Saturdays and big red do-not-ever-push-buttons. He smiled sadly as his gaze drifted to the far horizon. _He had lost his Rose standing next to waves such as these, _he thought and quickly shook himself to clear his head of the morose thoughts.

Inside his mind was screaming with the injustice of it all. He had lost so many. Everyone he knew growing up were gone now. Lost in the madness that was the Time War. And so many people since. The blond hair and beautiful smiling face of Rose floated to the surface of his mind. As he suppressed the image more followed like tiny soap bubbles of broken promises. Sarah Jane, Martha, Jack. Unbidden the image of his latest companion appeared before his minds eye. Donna. His beautiful, feisty Donna.

He had had no other choice, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time. He had to wipe her memory of him and all their time together. He felt his hearts clenching painfully at the mere memory. He could still hear Wilfred begging him to fix her, to make her remember; but he couldn't. He just… couldn't'. At least this way she could live; this way she had a chance of finding happiness. He closed his eyes and sighed. He hadn't cried since Rose…

"Hello." A child's voice broke through his pensive reverie. He turned and saw a young boy, perhaps seven years of age, standing beside him.

"Hello" He answered. He surreptitiously glanced around to see if he could spot the boys parents nearby. He had a bad case history with mothers and he was in no mood to be slapped by one today. He appeared to be in luck, as he couldn't see any now. Or perhaps that was unlucky, as he might be stuck with the child.

"Where are your parents?"

"At work." The child beamed at him with a smile that was sure to break a lot of hearts when he grew up. It reminded him of Jack. He had that same boyish charm. He looked closer at the child. There was something familiar and something odd about it. He was dressed in a blue-green snowsuit and a thick, green knitted cap with matching mittens. Blue snowboots covered the feet. It really wasn't much to go by.

"Okay, then who's looking after you?"

"My aunt Rhiannon." He noticed the bag of takeaway in the child's hands.

"Is she the one to send you on errands?" The boy nodded. "Best bring them to her then." He said, dismissing the child. But the boy remained. He was looking up at him expectantly.

"Are you here to so see Daddy?"

"Umm…" The Doctor responded most inarticulately. _What was it about this kid that left him so confounded?_ Before he could say anything further, the child beamed another smile at him and said:

"You have two hearts."

Another grin. The child apparently decided that that was the end of the conversation and skip-hopped away along the path and disappeared into the tourist office, he only just now noticed was there. The Doctor stared at the closed door, feeling utterly flabbergasted. Then a familiar voice sounded from somewhere nearby.

"I swear, the waiter was a Grendori on the prowl for prey and had picked the poor woman out as his next meal."

_Jack!_ The Doctor turned quickly, eyes rapidly scanning the area. _There!_ He was walking across the corner of the Plass with a small group of people. A young man was walking close beside him and the Doctor had to smile. Jack never changed. It was obvious the young man was his lover. The other two, a man and a woman, were laughing and they all seemed to get along. _This must be the team he's spoken off so many times_, he thought.

He knew the instant Jack had spotted him. The man kept on walking and smiling, but his eyes had locked on the Doctor's. The young man at his side looked from on to the other in confusion and then a growing wariness and concern. The Doctor focussed on Jack. The man looked just like the last time he had seen him. Even down to that nice greatcoat of his that suited him so well. He still felt sort of uneasy being near him. The man was a walking impossibility; an immortal human; a fixed point. Another thing to blame himself for. If Jack hadn't travelled with him and Rose, then he would never have ended up that way.

Jack sent the others inside; the young man left reluctantly, throwing a worried glance over his shoulder as he entered the tourist office. _What is it with that tourist office?_ The Doctor wondered briefly, but soon forgot the thought as Jack spoke to him.

"You look like shit." The Doctor laughed humourlessly.

"I'm fine." He wasn't, but he wasn't about to admit it. "How about you? You look happy." The immortal broke into his signature smile and chuckled. The Doctor gasped inwardly. _The Boy!_

"I am." He said firmly. "Getting married and everything." The Doctor raised an eyebrow, clearly stating 'again?'

"That young man just now?" he asked. Jack's features softened and a loving smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah, Ianto. Ianto Jones." He smiled sappily, making the Doctor smile. He had never thought he'd see the day, when Jack Harkness was truly utterly infatuated. Oh, there had been others. He had even been married before. But this was the first time he could see the emotion in the man's eyes. He couldn't help but be glad for the man. He deserved some happiness at last. He smiled.

"So you're finally settling down with someone." Jack nodded. _Who would have guessed?_ They stood in silence for a few moments. Then a small figure shot out of the tourist office door and headed straight for them.

"Daddy!" It was that boy again. He ran straight over and threw himself into Jack's arms. Jack scooped him into a big hug, lifting him clear of the ground.

"Hey baby. What are you doing out here without your coat on?"

"Hugging you, Daddy." The child said innocently and rolled his eyes, as if he thought his father was being too slow. Jack chuckled.

"Now how can I argue with that?" The boy beamed at him with a smile that was a carbon copy of Jack's. Then the boy looked over at the Doctor.

"Oh, it's you again. Hasn't your tea gone cold?" The Doctor frowned a little. He had completely forgotten the half empty cup in his hands. Then the child reached out a small hand and held it over the cup. A look of intense concentration appeared on his face. Jack looked from the boy to the cup and back to the boy again. The Doctor was just about to ask what was going on, when he felt a gentle heat warming his cold hands. He looked at the cup, as ever so slowly the tea started to heat up and small whiffs of steam started to rise. The boy pulled away his hand; he was gasping for breath as if he had run a great distance. Jack beamed at the child.

"That was amazing! I'm so proud of you." He hugged the boy, who beamed with the praise.

"Xarion just taught me." The Doctor looked from father to son. Never in his admittedly long life had he seen such a thing. _How was it possible? Humans couldn't do something like that. _Before he could ask though a voice bellowed:

"Orion!" The child flinched and muttered "Uh oh." Jack's young man came out of the tourist office, brandishing a child's jacket in one hand and a bunch of papers in the other. "What are you doing out here, when I specifically told you to clean up the mess you made?" He handed the boy the jacket and the child hurriedly put it on, while sitting on Jack's arm. The Doctor abstractedly thought it amazing the man wasn't growing tired of carrying the boy. He had to be getting heavy. The young man - Ianto was it? – was still scolding. "And why are there doodles all over my file?"

"I ran out of colouring paper." The boy said sheepishly. The young man spluttered. Jack decided to intervene. He put the boy down and put a hand the young man's arm.

"Calm down, Love. He's just a kid." Ianto made a forceful effort to calm himself, while Jack turned to the boy. "Orion, you know better than to touch the paperwork that's lying around." The boy looked shameful and nodded his head.

"Yes, Daddy."

"Do you have something to say to your Tad?" The boy looked at them with a pout.

"I'm sorry, Tad." Ianto looked sternly at his son.

"Apology accepted." He said and then allowed a small smile to light up his face. He ruffled the boy's hair lovingly as he said: "Just don't do it again. If you need more colouring paper you should ask for it, okay?" The boy nodded vigorously. The young man sent the two adults a look, obviously wanting to give them some space. "Now come on. Let's get inside. You still have a mess to clean up." He held his hand out and the boy took it. His shoulders slumped for a single step, before he perked up again.

"Tad?"

"Mhm."

"Why does that man have two hearts?"

Ianto stopped and looked at the boy and then at the Doctor. Jack was busy trying not to laugh. The Doctor looked on, curious about the response. He had no idea how much they had told the child about other worlds, although he suspected the child itself was at least part alien. It was a mystery, though. He could clearly see the family resemblance to both men. He knew men from the 51st century were capable of pregnancy, but somehow he didn't think Jack would allow such a thing to happen to him. Not in this century, surrounded by people who had never seen a pregnant man. People who didn't know how to deal with a male pregnancy. And then there was the way the child had heated his tea and how he knew he had two hearts. No something else was going on.

"Well, he must not be human then." The young man simply said and attempted to pull the kid along. But the boy wouldn't budge.

"Are you going catch him and put him in the cells?" The boy looked at the Doctor in concern. The young man sighed and turned to face his son.

"No, why would we do that?"

"You did that with the other one yesterday." The child's confusion was obvious. Jack chuckled as his young man sent him an imploring look.

"There are many different kinds of non-humans. Some of them are friendly," Jack indicated the Doctor. "Some of them are not. The one from yesterday was very unfriendly." The boy grinned in understanding. The young man held his hand out the boy again and again he took it. This time they got a few meters before the boy asked:

"Tad, how do you know if a non-human is friendly?" This time the man wasn't stopping.

"The unfriendly ones tend to be really mean and hurt people. The friendly ones don't." The boy considered this and nodded. Then out of the blue:

"I heated the man's tea up." The young man stopped abruptly and looked at the boy.

"What? Out here?" The boy nodded confused. "Where everyone could see you?" The boy nodded slowly, beginning to realise he wasn't going to be praised. "Orion – sigh – we've talked about this. You don't do non-human things in front of humans."

"But… he isn't human." Now the child sounded utterly confused, that even the Doctor couldn't help chuckling. Jack was making a valiant effort not to laugh outright.

"No, but he is a stranger. Do you remember what we told you about strangers?" Now the boy rolled his eyes in a perfect imitation of his Tad and said:

"Don't talk to strangers. They could be dangerous."

"That danger includes them finding out what you are and what you can do. You have to remember that, Orion. It's very important. No one can know." The boy swallowed audibly; his eyes wide. He suddenly looked rather frightened. The young man softened his look and smiled at the child. "Come on." Together they finally made it into the tourist office and the door closed softly behind them.

"Kids!" Jack said with a laugh. The Doctor smiled. "His mum was Saluvian; that's how he could do what he did." Jack volunteered.

The Doctor nodded. _Off course! How could he have been so thick?_ Saluvian females could store and utilize the semen from several males to impregnate themselves. Jack smiled upon seeing the Doctor's look of understanding.

"It was just a one-night-adventure. She left and we never saw her again. Then a while later we found Orion on our doorstep with a letter stating his mum had died and we were his fathers. Been fun ever since." He chuckled wryly. The Doctor chuckled with him. He could imagine. He had also been in a situation where fatherhood had been thrust upon him unexpectedly. Granted Jenny had been a clone; a copy. But she had still been his offspring. He deliberately pushed away the thought of how he had lost her as well. _Shouldn't dwell too much on the past. A person could develop a depression that way. _

"Well, you seem to be doing a splendid job though." He told the man. The immortal former conman, former rogue time agent beamed at him.

"Thanks."

"Well, I must be off. Places to see; people to meet. Just stopped by for a spot of tea." He drew him self up and tossed the half full cup into the bin. Jack looked at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."


End file.
